When trouble comes, a Christian’s first instinct is to ask God to deliver them.
Jesus modeled another response:
“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason [to die for the sins of the world] I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27).
Observations:
1. It’s not wrong to have a troubled heart in the face of suffering. Jesus did.
2. It is always right to take trouble as a signal to connect with our Father in heaven.
3. Sometimes suffering is God’s good plan, although it may not be immediately obvious.
4. A desire to glorify God is more important than wanting deliverance from suffering.
5. It’s not wrong to ask to be delivered from suffering. Later, at Gethsemane, Jesus repeatedly prayed, “Let this cup pass from Me…nevertheless not My will but Yours be done.”
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